Continuing The Readying ...

Now my Junior year was a sort of tough one in some respects. I had English III, U.S. History, Trigonometry, Typing III, Office Machines, Accounting, and World History.  I joined the Math Club, still was in National Honor Society, and maybe belonged to another club though I cannot recall anymore.  Which is funny, because I know many reading along my blog here are probably wondering how on Earth I remember the classes I took and so many teachers.  That's easy, school was a lifeblood of mine.  Home was chaos with my Dad being sick, and not having many friends to do things with there.  School provided me an outlet, especially after I got comfortable and got to know which teachers were helpful and didn't mind me dropping in after school to go over something or to learn something extra that class time didn't provide. 

It's ironic that the years I took history classes, I'd name them as my least favorite.  I just didn't care about all that stuff.  But my World History teacher, Mr. Feuerhahn, he was a character and a half, and he made learning this stuff fun.  We had to memorize HIS notes for the class, each day we'd get further through HIS notes, with examples and so forth, reading the book and so on.  I remember more things about World War II still because of how he made us use rote memorization.  A lot of it stuck with me.  And when I went to college and took a U.S. history class then, a lot of what I learned in his class, I remembered.  I actually enjoyed learning history in college, because by then other classes I was taking (Government, Adolescent Psychology and Sociology) explained paradigm shifts of thought and living in the modern world. I could understand better how things were linked together.  Again it was about dates, which are numbers, and that is really key to how I remember a lot of things.

In my Junior year I had the opportunity to go on the Junior-Senior trip to visit all the cool places on the East Coast.  From Annapolis, MD, to Washington, DC, to NYC.   I would have LOVED to have gone, but it cost out of pocket over $1700.  My family didn't have the money, and it would have taken every dime I had saved from my job working in the library.  I knew I had to get my own vehicle the following year because my sister's Junior year would have her taking classes on another campus 1/2 the day and so we'd each need our own mode of transportation.  So I had to regrettably nix going on that trip.  I heard a lot about the going's on later.   Sounded like a fun time. 

Something that I chalk up to "live and learn" the hard way, was my taking 3 semesters of typing in High School.  Had I known that when I went to business school later that I'd have to take that all over again, I could have filled my High School days with more art or maybe Home EC classes that I really could use after I got married.  LOL

Of all my classes my Junior year, I'd say I most enjoyed Trigonometry.  Mrs. Caples taught that and she was a divine teacher.  I had her husband for Earth Science in the 8th grade.  Both were from the South, not sure which state, but they both had similar accents.  He was funny, she was pretty academic in her tone all the time.  I respected that A LOT.   She was the kind of teacher I wanted to be.  It's after I took her class that I decided I would center my college education on Math.  Teaching Math in High School.  We'll get into that saga in future posts ahead.   She got me involved in the Math Club and sparked my interest to join Mu Alpha Theta, a Junior College organization.  The really cool thing was if I did all the requirements the rest of time at SCHS, I would graduate with honors and have the Mu Alpha Theta emblem on my diploma.  That involved a lot of out of Math contests and several Math quizzes and having to keep a certain percentage on them.  Even had I not met the requirements, the opportunity to go to Kirksville, Columbia and other state universities and compete against other bright Math enthusiasts was fun.   The one odd memory I have is on one of the trips I had to share a room with Mrs. Caples.  Seems another girl had to share our room as well.  That was weird and as usual I didn't sleep well.  Theme of my life while travelling!   But again, I love numbers and to get out of town and do something fun, always a wonderful thing for me.   

In my English class I had another good teacher, Mrs. Thiel.  She was the strictest of all the teachers I remember having.   But I again liked that about her.  We had to study the great authors and poets of American Lit and I had to do a presentation on Henry David Thoreau.  I remember again being nervous as heck, knees rattling behind the podium giving my speech on him.  I think I got a good grade, but I remember hearing things that I needed to work on.  I did like Mrs.Thiel's helpful criticism.  I believe she talked me into joining the Future Teacher's of America club, as she was the sponsor.  We got to visit a Montessori school, where they teach from age 18 months to age 12.  And these kids were bright from the get go.  Learning German from day 1!   I really kept building on the dream of being a teacher with the classes I was now taking and the clubs and organizations I was getting into.  Life was good and I couldn't wait after my Junior year ended to start my last year and keep the momentum going!

.....while in the middle of developing your skills and finding the things you are good at, your heart can lead you into things that seem so obvious you just don't consider anything else.   And one of the things to learn is to listen to those that know how to train others, they see your strengths, they see your weaknesses.   I had a lot more to learn and we have a lot more of the story to go, before the real life starts! 

Readying For The World ....

May 1981 was the last year there would be a Freshman class at the Junior High.  The 8th and 9th graders all were leaving TL Hardin Jr. High behind and moving up to the Senior High school together.   1/2 the school in August 1981 was new to the High School.  Was that ever strange. 

I went from Jr. High where all the classes were under one roof, to the Sr. High where there were 3 main buildings for the main academic classes, and a 4th building that was the Shop.  I never was in that building.  In between Buildings A, B, and C was what was referred to as the Quad.  I remember a pep rally or two there, but first thing every school year, all the clubs were out there to garner new members.  In my Freshman year, I don't believe I joined any clubs.  I wasn't sure which ones to join, nor which would be fun, plus I knew just about no one at school except my friend Lori, but we didn't share too many classes together.   I think we hooked up more at lunch time if our 4th hour classes had lunch at the same time.  

My Freshman year taught me a little of everything:  English, Geometry (I had Algebra I in 8th grade), Probability and Statistics, Physical Science, Art, PE, Civics and of course my least favorite, Missouri History.   None of my teachers struck me as all that interesting, except maybe Mr. McCoy the Science guy.  We got to work in 4 fields of Science.  I loved playing with the Chemistry set, but not so much liking to have weird funky smells come from the lab.  I had two different teachers for English, due to my schedule I had to switch teachers after the 1st semester.  Neither impressed me much.  The one memorable thing I remember making in my first art class in High School (and I cannot recall the teacher's name) was making an item solely out of construction paper and a minimal amount of glue that you could stand on and not crush when you stood on it.  It was like mixing physics and art together.  Think of a box with many partitions on a level, and several levels...to hold Christmas ornaments...but miniaturized version.  I did it and it worked.  I wish I still had that thing!

My Sophomore year was again a little of everything: English, Algebra II, PE, Health, World Geography,  Driver's Ed, Gen. Business, Typing but NO History!  This year though I decided to open up a bit, get to know some people and enjoy my 2nd year in H.S.  I met Lisa C. in World Geography class and we hit it off.  Hung with her every Friday night during Football season.  I really enjoyed going to the games and hanging out with Lisa and other friends who cheered on their rival teams.  I was never on the Pompom or Cheerleader squads.  I was not into that frilly stuff or getting up in front of people.  Dare I say I about passed out when I had to give speeches in Mrs. Hodges' English class!  She was one of my first mentors in school.  Absolutely loved her!  We read one of my favorite novels, "To Kill A Mockingbird" in her class.  I did well in her class.  But speeches I detested. 

My other favorite mentor was Mrs. Hillemann who I had for PE.  I had a very huge crush on her oldest son Charlie who is a year older than me.  I never told her that, but my friends knew I think.  He dated my friend Melissa's older sister.  They were high school sweethearts, got married in the early 1990s.  I got to go to their reception and enjoyed the whole thing.  What's really wild is that many years later I would run into him again, for a financial reason, and he looked SO different!  He was still married to his high school sweetheart, and that I always love to hear! 

The Algebra II teacher I was assigned to ended up having to take a leave of absence the whole year, due to some illness.  I don't think she ever returned to teach.  The teacher that replaced her was Mrs. Rosenberg.  The first Jewish person I had ever met!  I didn't know it then, but this would be a seed to my interest in religious studies.  Charlie and Michelle were in my class and we all sat in the same row.  I spent more time looking at him than paying attention in class.  LOL  But I did well in Algebra II.  I loved math and decided I would continue to take more Math classes the rest of my years in High School, although state law only said I had to take 2 years of Math to graduate.  I just really enjoyed numbers.  

My General Business instructor was Mr. Dave Williams, he was a hoot.  We got 18 inches of snow that February or March and it took forever to melt.  He told the class to silently write down the last day the snow would be on the school campus and whoever guessed the closest would get 50 extra credit points.  I didn't need any extra credit, I was carrying a solid A in that class.  But as luck or the universe would have it, I indeed guessed the closest date, somewhere in the middle of April, and got the extra points.  I was impressed with myself.   I should have asked if I could give the points to someone else but I don't think that was an option and I don't think I thought of it at the time. 

I got inducted into the National Honor Society that year.  That was really interesting.  Had to go to monthly meetings before school.   This was a true honor, as they had a special ceremony one evening and I know my parents came to that.  Had to dress up in a dress, YUCK, and go through this particular procedure to officially get inducted and say an oath I think.  Very cool for a 16 year old to go through.   

Ah, and that reminds me, I learned to drive in my Sophomore year.  Mom's car was a Plymouth Volare..  One of those dorky cars that you really didn't want to be seen in....it was like your Grandmother's car.  My Driver's Ed teacher Mr. Cheves didn't much care for girls.  We called him the chauvinist guy.   He did like Denise, who along with Rick (the guy who got baptized at the same Church and time I did) and I all made up the team in the car that we had to drive early in the morning to practice driving before getting tested.  He let Denise drive more, I think.  I got an A in the class and a C in the driving test, and landed with a B overall.  Not bad, but I waited 6 months before I got my license barely passing that darned driving test the state makes you take.  The woman tester had me doing things we never practiced in class....I nearly failed.  What a shock to me.   I can attest to this day I have never been cited at an accident for failing to do anything.  I have only gotten 3 speeding tickets and they all were over 20 years ago.  I have been in my share of accidents, just none were my fault.  We'll probably write more on this in a later post. 

I got a job at the City library and worked every night after school.   Mrs. Lowery, the school's track coach really wanted me to join the track team because I was pretty good at distance running back then.  I had to turn her down because I needed the job and couldn't make practices after school.  It's one huge regret I have from back then.  I used to blame my Mom for pushing me into working and keeping me out of things I wanted to do.   It really wasn't her fault, things were what they were and we needed more income to offset what was not coming in since Dad was still out of work.  I learned a lot about the public and I loved working with the crew at the library.  That job ended right before my Junior year started.  The program I was in wouldn't let me work past age 16, for whatever reason.  I tried to get on as a regular library employee but couldn't. I was hugely disappointed because I really was part of a big deal.  The Kathryn Linnemann branch used to be in an old 2 story house, and they merged that branch and the original branch I started working in into one new K.L. branch.  My name was on the plaque that was displayed for years as the people that helped bring that new branch together.  I always was proud that my name was on something especially in a library, where the public could see it, and a place where knowledge was in a book, magazine or video.  That was one awesome year!

Well that was my first half of High School. It came to end with Lisa C. moving away. I was heartbroken again. She forgot to leave me her new address, so I never heard from her again. How disappointing too. She was a very interesting gal. I believe her family moved to Germany, because her father's job moved him there. I still was friends with Lori, but we didn't hang together outside of school. Not since the 8th grade.

..... the journey in life sends out into the real world, with real people and real events that shape every facet of our being.  Sometimes we cringe at the things we run into, and we avoid many situations out of fear or ignorance.  Sometimes we find new and fascinating people and things to do that changes us forever! 

 

 

 

 

The Pythagorean Theorem